1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switch arrangement in a portable flashlight, which is characterized in that a switch is mounted at the rear end of a body.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
As disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 52-17992, for instance, one known type of a portable flashlight includes a dry cell holder detachably inserted and housed within a casing, a set of dry cells held within the holder, an electrical bulb attached to the front end of the holder and a switch attached to the rear end of the holder.
In the aforesaid type of portable flashlight, however, since connection is electrically and mechanically made between the dry cells and the bulb with the use of outer and inner coil springs, the structure of such connection becomes complicated. To add to this, even when replacing either one of the dry cells and the bulb, it is always required to remove both parts at the same time, so that breakage of the bulb may take place at the time of their removal. Since the switch is of the structure that the switch piece is slidably moved to open or close the contacts, so that difficulty is involved in making the switch waterproof. Thus, with the prior art flashlight, it is difficult to achieve a sufficient waterproof structure.
With a view to solving such problems, the present inventor has proposed to provide a portable flashlight in which the operating member for a switch is made axially turnable, and has already filed a patent application therefor (Japanese Patent Application No. 60-271141).
While the flashlight proposed in the aforesaid patent application is much superior in the waterproofness achieved to the prior art one as mentioned in the foregoing, it is noted that the switch portion is complciated in structure, and the number of parts is increased for reasons of using the dry cell holder as one consitutional element of the switch, so that a good deal of time is required for assembling.